I'm not intending to create any polemics, but where you refer to the best law schools and oppose NYU to them, I must remind you that NYU is among them according to all main American rankings... This regardless any particularities of each application system (and I'm not saying that the one of NYU's is or is not fair).

While the process appears less intensive than, say, for Yale and Harvard who require more essay questions, it must be remembered that:

1. The 500 word limit is a bit of a test to see how well you can sell yourself in such a short space. Surely one of the most highly prized skills as a lawyer is the ability to write clearly and concisely. In a way, the essay was challenging in that there was a lot that I could have said, and I had to go through a tedious re-drafting/editing process to discern the most important points to get across to the admissions committee

2. The intellectual depth of candidates may be gagued by their responses to the three Hauser scholarship additional, optional essay questions (as well as other means eg letter(s) of recommendation). The first of the essays is not dissimilar to Part A of Harvard's personal statement

Jokes apart, I totally agree with @NZGirl. I went to the same process of shrinking, editing and reediting the texts with the most relevant information and I would not doubt that it's really an strategy to evaluate our skills.

I'm not intending to create any polemics, but where you refer to the best law schools and oppose NYU to them, I must remind you that NYU is among them according to all main American rankings... This regardless any particularities of each application system (and I'm not saying that the one of NYU's is or is not fair).

In other words, I think the 500 word limit + 1 recommandation letter is also a way for less serious applicants to look like great applicants...

Well, it's a matter of opinion and there are many serious people who would say differently. Anyways, I know some really medium (not to say mediocre) people from my JD class that got into Columbia for example, so I wouldn`t state something like that...

Is there anybody here who applied to the NYU@NUS Program? (In 2009, results were released around this time.)

In other words, I think the 500 word limit + 1 recommandation letter is also a way for less serious applicants to look like great applicants...

It cannot be denied that NYU is behind Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Columbia in rankings. However, in my view, it is still a great school (and is therefore one of the schools I applied to). The rankings evaluate law schools according to a number of criteria, some of which may not be particularly relevant to the individual or even the LLM programme (as opposed to the JD programme). I think they should certainly be a strong consideration in the decision-making process, but not necessarily the only factor.

I perceive NYU as being geared more towards legal practitioners than those who wish to enter academia. That is not to say that one cannot become a legal academic if one chooses to go to NYU (and also a good one!). I just feel that the strong emphasis on clinical courses in its curriculum means that the school is perhaps better suited towards practitioners, be they in private practice, in-house or for the government. Whether it is a 'better' school than the others depends on the individual's background and interests. I think there are some fantastic professors within NYU's faculty. It would be absolutely amazing to study jurisprudence with Dworkin! The International Arbitration course is taught by Donald Donovan, a partner at Debevoise in NY, who have a top practice.

While Yale has ranked consistently as the 'best' US law school, it does not represent the best option for someone such as myself. I decided against applying because I felt that the programme is geared more towards those who wish to enter legal academia. As a legal practitioner with a number of years of experience (and someone who forsees going back to practice after the LLM degree), Yale didn't offer the range of clinical courses that Harvard, Columbia and NYU did, and would not give me the same opportunity to develop my practical skills, such as advocacy, mediation and negotiation.

I am certain that applicants are screened just as vigorously as other schools. NYU must place a lot of emphasis on grades and class rank - they specifically ask for it in the on-line application. NYU also ask for a CV, and can discern a lot of information such as publications, participation in the law review, etc, all of which reflect a candidate's intellectual ability. The fact that a candidate may be accepted at one school and not another reflects that different schools have different committees and are looking for a mix of candidates from different countries, legal backgrounds and with experience in different sectors. While it may be surprising that someone is accepted into Yale or Harvard but is rejected from Columbia or NYU, I'm sure this does occur occasionally. Don't forget that NYU offers the lucrative Hauser and Vanderbilt scholarships (among others), which continue to ensure NYU attracts incredibly strong students.

I think that the LLM experience is influenced by a number of factors - the school is very important, but so is the individual and his/her efforts, engagement in extra-curricular activities within the faculty and beyond, not to mention the university's social scene. The name of a good school on your CV will definitely open doors after the programme, result in alumni connections etc but it remains for the individual to prove himself/herself in practice (whatever the nature) thereafter.

I wouldn't be so patient as to write such detailed considerations here, but thanks, @NZGirl, your description was excellent and corresponds perfectly to my views.

I've applied for NYU as well as for the other top law school in the US.

Although the LL.M. class at NYU is impressively large, the evaluation procedure seems to be well organized and fast. For istance, I decided to add a recent publication of mine to my file and the officer in charge replied to my email in 24 hours!

Good luck!

Hi everyone.

I still haven't received my "complete" e-mail...

Should I start worrying now?

Hi everyone.

I still haven't received my "complete" e-mail...

Should I start worrying now?

Hi all,

Very happy to have discovered this forum and to see that there are others out there as stressed as I am.

I also didn't realise that I should have expected a "complete" email until I received it yesterday. If I'm honest it kind of annoyed me because I just assumed my application was complete and they were already considering it!

Anyway, I put in my application on the 22nd November and I'm sure my transcripts were sent in before that so I don't understand why it took so long. Perhaps foreign transcripts take longer for LSAC to provide a report for. I wouldn't worry too much.

Does anyone know how they make their decisions? I know they said March but Is it on a rolling basis or does everyone get considered and hear at the same time?

Thanks

Goodstar

Just for good measure...

If I applied before Dec, 1st, but get my completion mail later, aka today, I am still considered as having applied before Dec, 1st, right??

>>Does anyone know how they make their decisions? I know they said March but Is it on a rolling basis or does everyone get considered and hear at the same time?

I've heard that decisions for most of the programs are made on a rolling basis but that certain programs "roll" less frequently and are made in larger batches.

Domestic tax and @NUS decisions seem to come out pretty constantly (so the committee must meet often for those decisions and they are decided in smaller batches) while the more popular international program decisions seem to come out in fewer but larger waves (committee must meet less frequently to decide those and must compare many applications at once). There's also a lot of cross-program applying which I'm certain contributes to the delay of some decisions.

>>Does anyone know how they make their decisions? I know they said March but Is it on a rolling basis or does everyone get considered and hear at the same time?

I've heard that decisions for most of the programs are made on a rolling basis but that certain programs "roll" less frequently and are made in larger batches.

Domestic tax and @NUS decisions seem to come out pretty constantly (so the committee must meet often for those decisions and they are decided in smaller batches) while the more popular international program decisions seem to come out in fewer but larger waves (committee must meet less frequently to decide those and must compare many applications at once). There's also a lot of cross-program applying which I'm certain contributes to the delay of some decisions.

Got accepted to the full-time tax program today as a domestic candidate. Completely over the moon!

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Got accepted to the full-time tax program today as a domestic candidate. Completely over the moon!

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Nope. I'm guessing that information would be sent separately.